Apparatus for drawing wire



April 27 ,192& r 1,582,434

A. SIMONS 'APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE Filed Feb. 8. 1926 1N pron flbmlzam man ATTORNEY;

Patented Apr; 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT orr cu ABRAHAM SIMONS, on NEW uoax, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR DRAWING WIRE.

Application filed February 8, 1926. Serial No. 86,855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM SIMoNs, a citizen of Russia, residing at New York city, in the county of Bronx and State of .6 New York, have invented certain new and Another object of my invention is'to defvise'an improved die or combination of dies which can be effectively lubricated when used for drawing larger sizes of wire.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description and drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments thereof.

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing one embodiment of my invention.

Fig.2 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing another embodiment of my invention.

It has heretofore been known for many .years that it is much more easy to draw thin wire than to draw thick wire. In

order. to rapidly draw wire, it has been customary to lmmerse the dies in a bath of lubricant. However, this proved of little or no value in drawing the larger sizes of wire. --For example, in drawing a heavy wire such as a wire having a diameter of about 14 of'an inch, it has been necessary to perform the operation by a draw bench which pulled the wire through the dievery slowly. Experience has shown that if it was attempted to draw the: wire rapidly through the die that the wire-was stretched atthe portion thereof'irr contact with the, drawing portion of the die, and

injured the tensile strength" V Y should merely fit tightlyagainsttlie' wire fl 10. For the purpose of securing such atight i05 this seriously of the material. I

- It was only after the wire-had been drawn to a certain thinness thatdt was, possible to pass it through a gang of dies of succes-.

expedient has sively decreasing internal diameter and to wind up the wire on reels and to move it throughthe dies with'great rapidity. When wire having a diameter less the 1/40th of an inch is drawn, it is not necessary to employ any special means for lubricating the wire during the drawing operation.

It has been attemptedto employ a solid fusible lubricant packed into the dies for drawing large sizes ofwire because the intense heat generated by the drawing of the wire melted the lubricant and facilitated the drawing process to a certain extent, but even this has been subject to numerous disadvantages.

I have discovered that the reason why it has been difficult to efficiently use a lubricant in drawing thick'wire is largely due to the fact that practical manufacturing considerations have made it necessary to make the curvature of the drawing surface of' a die increase in proportion to the internal diameter "of the die; That is, the large dies used for drawing heavy wire have always been made with an internal drawing surface of' a relatively large curvature and it has been impractical to manufacture them save with such relatively large curvature.

According to my invention,the true drawmg surface of a die is directly associated curvature, so that the movementyof the wire with an adjacent surface of much-smaller draws a much larger amount'of the lubricant through the die.

For example, in the embodimentfshown in Fig. 1, a die '12 provided'with a draw ing surface 15 of the usual curvature or taper is mounted inthe holder 17- in'any suitable manner. .A secondary die member crbushing 11 is mounted in front of the die 12 and the inner surface 13 of thebuShing 11' is provided with a drawing portion which makes a much smaller anglewit'h'the axis-of the wire -10 than the drawing por: tion of the die 12. "Thatis, that portionofjif the inner surface 13 which is directly adj-=- jacent the :die 12 maybe considered-{as h'a'v'- ingeither a very slight tap offy es curvature. The inner end-:ofthe surface 13 fit, this inner portion" of the" drawing "surface 13 may exert a very slight drawing action upon the wire 10, but this is not absolutely necessary. The wire has its diameter substantially reduced by the die 12 so that the outlet portion 16 has a diameter about 10% less than the diameter of' the wire 10 if copper wire is being drawn. An

effective working embodiment of the type shown in Fig. 1 may be provided by assuming that the drawing is to scale, that the diameter of the wire 10 is .072 inches, and that the diameter of the outlet portion 16 is .064 inches. The combined len th of the members 12 and 1,1 is half an inch. 4

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the

1 die 11 is mounted in a holder 17 and it is provided with an inner die surface 15 shaped in the usual manner and joined at 14 to an inner surface 13 which has substantially the same contour as the surface 13 before mentioned. In other words, the structure shown in Fig; 2 operates substantially the same as that shown in Fig. 1, except that the drawing member is now made of one piece.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a very small pocket or recess 14L is formed between the members 11 and 12, butthis does not injure the wire during the drawing operation because the said wire is not drawn agalnst any sharp edge. However, while the action of the device shown in Fig. 1

and Fig. 2 is theoretically the same, the device shown in Fig. 2 is much superior to that shown in'Fig. 1' because there is absolutely no danger of the wire being injured by being drawn against the sharp edge, and in addition there is .no intermediate pocket or recess through which the lubrlcant must pass.

In drawing copper or brass wire it has been found necessary to have the len th of the drawing surface or bearing of t e die not substantially. exceed the diameter of grip is secured between the wire and the die that the wire stretches .in the die, thus lowering its tensile strength.

Hence, I prefer that the wire should not be drawn at all in the member 11 or in the corresponding part of member 11' and that the thicker portion of the wire should merely fit snugly and for the shortest possible distance in the member '11 or the like, to insure the effective pulling'through of the lubricant. This enables the drawing surface proper to be made of the usual length and without any wire in the die.

Practical experience has shown that with danger of stretching the is made of. sufficient length, namely, about the use of this apparatus that wires of large diameter can be drawn with greater rapidity and with much more effective lubrication than has heretofore been possible, even if the lubricant is not subjected to any pressure and the dies are merely immersed in a bath of suitable lubricant.

While I do not wishto bind myself to any theory, I believe that the action of the ilie combinations above mentioned is as folows:-

WVhen the wire is pulled through a die while it is in contact with a bath of lubricant, there is a tendency to draw a surface film of the lubricant on the said wire, together with said wire, so that the wire moves simultaneously with the thin sheath of lubricant. In the ordinary die heretofore used for drawing a thick wire, the inlet surface of the die made a high angle withthe periphe of the wire. Hence, the moving sleeve 0 lubricantwas deflected by the inlet surface of the die towards the axis of the wire, and at a large angle to the axis of the wire, so that the kinetic energy of the moving sleeve of lubricant was not effectively utilized for forcing it through the die. This made it necessary to pull the wire at low speed and of course the low speed of the wire resulted in a low kinetic energy of the movin sleeve of lubricant. I

In additlon, and aside from all consideration of the kinetic energyof the sleeve of lubricant, the high angle of the inlet surface of the die produced a pressure on the film of lubricant which may be considered as sur- I rounding the wire, which was at a large angle to the' axis of the wire, so that the lubricant was forced backwards and did not enter the drawing portion of the die.

In addition, and aside from other considerations before mentioned, the high angle of the inlet portion of the die permitted the said film of lubricant to flow backwards very readily because it could flow backwards through an annular passage of relatively lar e diameter.

These isadvantages are mlnimized according to my invention. For example, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 the member 11 has an internal surface of very small curvature or very slight taper, which is closely associated with the surface of the wire. The film of lubricant which moves together with the wire 10 is therefore deflected in a direction making a ver small angle with the axis of the wire, and in addition the film of lubricant which is subjected to the pressure caused by the drawing of the wire cannot flow backwards readily because the annular passage between the wire and the interior wall of the member 11 is very narrow and this very narrow portion 10 injured in passing from the member 11 to the member 12 because'of the longitudinal contour of said parts and because the wire does not encounter a sharp edge at any point of the apparatus. Since lubricant is pulled .15 through the member 11 into the pocket 14 and since the lubricant cannot flow backwards out of the pocket 14, a certain liquid pressure is accumulated in the pocket 14 and this is sufficient to force the lubricant through the member 12" and to efficiently lubricate the die at this part of the operation.

Of course, the effect istcumulative because the eflicient lubrication of the wire when it is drawn in the member 12 enables it to be pulled through the apparatus more rapidly, and this increases the kinetic energy of the moving film of lubricant so as to still more efficiently lubricate the wire durin the true 0 drawing operation which is per orme'd in the member 12 of ig. 1 or in the corresponding portion of member 11' shown in Fi 2.

ft is not even absolutely necessary that 35 any drawing operation should be performed in the member 11 illustrated in Fig. 1, for example, but this is referable because it insures-a very tight t at this point and the formation of a very narrow annular passage. Likewise, it is not necessary that anydrawing operation should be performed by the surface 13'. p 1 I have shown preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions'could be made without departing from its spirit. The device should permit the lubricant entrained between the wire and the surfaces 13 or 13' to pass into the inlet opening of the die proper. That is, if suflicient pressure were applied directly to the lubricant in pocket 14 for example, this would substan-" tially prevent the passage of lubricant intermediate surface. 13 and the surface'of the wire which is being pulled through the apparatus, and this would be undesirable. A small applied pressure on the lubricant intermediate the drawing surface of the die *and the means in advance thereof would not prevent the action of the surface of said means, as. above described, since. the entrained lubricant would be substantially free to enter the inlet end of the drawing die.

The member 11 for the member 11' can be provided with an inner corresponding surface of less inclination to the wire than the inner drawing surface ofthe die proper, l by making the inner surface of-less curvature than the inner surface of the die, or by making the inner surface of either member 11 or member 11 conical and provided with a sufliciently slight taper, as these would be equivalents for the purposes of the claims herein. The pocket 14: or its equivalent should have a small volume.

I claim 1. In combination with the inner surface of a drawing die, means adapted to comof said wire through said die accomplishes the lubrication thereof during the drawing operation. Y

2. In combination with the inner surface of a drawing die, means adapted to communicate with a source of lubricant and located in advance of the drawing portion of said die, said means also having an inner surface which has a smaller inclination to the axis of the die than the drawing surface of said die, the said inner surface being adapted to beclosely associated with the periphery of a wire which is pulled through said die, any lubricant which. passes through said means-in the direction of movement of said wire being sufficiently free to pass to said die, so that the movement of sald wire through said die accomplishes the lubrication thereof during the drawing operation. 3. In combinatioma holder having a wire drawing die located therein, saiddie having an inner drawing surface, a separate member free to pass to said die so that the movement in advance of said die and adapted to comdirection of movement of the wire which-is pulled through the die being sufficiently free to pass to said die, so that the movement of said wire through said die accomplishes the lubrication thereof "during the drawing operation. 4. Acne-piece drawing member having an inner drawmg surface at a portion thereof spaced from the inlet endthereof, said mem-,

her having a surface in advance of said drawing surface which has a smaller inclination to the axis of the die than said drawing surface.

5. A one-piece drawing member having an inner drawing surface at a portion thereof spaced from the inlet end thereof, said member having a surface in advance of said drawing surface which has a smaller inclination to the axis of the die than said drawing surface, the second mentioned surface having a rounded junction therewith.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ABRAHAM SIMONS. 

